FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Autumn 2008
Tony Drakeford returns to lead the latest autumn children's walk
TOURS
of Cannizaro Park are being organised once again by the Friends. Wimbledon’s best
known naturalist,
Tony Drakeford (right), led another Autumn Nature Walk for children
aged up to 10 on 11 October.
Executive Committee member Anne Peacock writes:
"With arguably the finest Saturday of
the year and Tony Drakeford in person to lead the walk, we were all full of
eager anticipation. We were not disappointed; there was an excellent turn-out
of enthusiastic youngsters, about 30 in total,
and equally interested parents.
"Tony began by showing us a very
sickly leaf from a horse-chestnut that had been attacked by moths; the disease
originated in Wimbledon and is a serious threat in the long term to
horse-chestnuts. However, we all cheered up when
he found lots of conkers in his pocket and began distributing them.
"As we walked round the park we
learned how stag-beetles inhabited the trunks of trees, that had been cut down,
and by eating away at the wood for seven years they made excellent compost for
things to grow. We saw many
different trees, bird boxes, ducks, fungi and badger sets and Tony explained
to us the importance of all these for the
continuation of the wealth of plant, bird and animal life in Cannizaro Park.
"We were all fascinated by the aged
oak that had continued to grow round a chain that was in its way! We looked
hard for acorns but only found a couple – Tony was surprised how few there were
and suggested perhaps it was the
sign of a cold winter ahead as the squirrels may have taken them all.
"Throughout the walk the children were busy with their cameras, so we decided to have a photo competition. Send any photos you think are really good to us, either by post or email, and we shall announce the winner and prize in the next edition of the newsletter.
"Our sincere thanks to Tony - I feel sure that we all learned something new about the park, in addition to having a lovely walk on a glorious autumn day."
A month earlier Chris Mountford, former head of leisure services for Merton Council, led an hour-long walk around Cannizaro's 34 acres of gardens and woodland scenery, accompanied by Friends Chairman, Juliet Willis.
Guided tours also took place during this year's Wimbledon Cannizaro Festival in July when volunteers from the Friends showed visitors some of the latest improvements to the park. Executive Committee member Wendy Price explained the contents and maintenance of the new herb garden. This was planted earlier in the year in the formal Dutch Garden as a permanent replacement for the previous floral displays.